Wrong time for brutal games STARS SAY FRAZIER TO BEAT CLAY

Press, Issue 32535, 19 February 1971, Page 22

Wrong time for brutal games STARS SAY FRAZIER TO BEAT CLAY

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) NEW YORK. It is written in the stars that Joe Frazier will have a slight advantage over Cassius Clay on the night of their world title fight, March 8, United Press International reported.

So says an astro-flash computer which cast the boxers’ personal horoscopes from astrological material loaded into its data bank by a team of French star-gazers.

Startling similarities kept recurring in the computerprinted charts but, says one New York interpreter, the winner of the fight probably would be Frazier if the exact times of their births, as supplied by Clay’s father and Frazier’s mother, are within about five minutes of being correct

According to the stars, a coincidence of birthdays pegs both fighters as Capricorns, with Leo in the ascendancy, and puts them under the influence of many of the same heavenly bodies. SURPRISE ENDING Yet, it is said, subtle forces may be at work while they are slugging it out for the world heavy-weight

championship. There are said to be signs less than favourable to Clay. The fight could end in a surprise, perhaps controversyThis data, .based on family recollections, was fed into the computer: Clay, bom January 17, 1942, at Louisville, Kentucky, about 6.30

p.m.; Frazier, bom at Beaufort, South Carolina, about 9.30 p.m. Within minutes, the computer sent out the two detailed horoscopes on serpentine sheets, 12ft long, each covering a six-month period. Arthur Gogatz, a softspoken young man with only a set of piercing eyes to suggest he might be a modem Merlin, climbed on to his study perch in the astro-flash booth at Grand Central Sta- ; tion and began to pore over ! the charts. i OMINOUS FOR CLAY He frowned, noting the many similarities. Then his i eyes lit as he came across i this ominous paragraph on , Clay’s print-out sheet “It would be well for you ■ (Clay) to temper the ardour i which Mars brings to your emotional and sensual responses these days because of its discordant position in ; the fifth house. Rough sports : and brutal games—neither of which are recommended duri ing this phase—bring grave risk of accident.” Nothing so dire appeared ’ in Frazier’s chart, although there were some negative signs considered of lesser , import. Mr Gogatz, who dislikes to forecast sports events, and , boxing in particular, summarised his interpretations this way: UNHAPPY TIME

"It is not a good time for either of them, really. Both are Capricorns, with Leo ascending. I doubt if any two men with so many astrological similarities ever fought for the championship. “But I would say that, if the hour of birth is correct or within about five minutes of correct, then astrologically Frazier would have a slight advantage. “However, there are bad features in Frazier’s chart- I look for Frazier to be slower in his reactions than usual, lacking the necessary forcefulness possibly to put Clay away if he gets him in trouble.

“I look for Clay possibly to injure himself in some way, maybe a hand or a muscle pull. This might not be Frazier’s doing but something could inhibit Clay in the fight. MINOR PLANETS "Therefore, the outcome probably would be Frazier in some way, but the ending might have some sort of a twist to it, based on the positions and the aspects of the minor planets.” There are negative factors in Frazier's chart, said Mr Gogatz, because of the influence of Saturn, which is not in good aspect to the other planets, and Frazier does not have a well-placed Jupiter, possibly limiting his having a coup, so to speak. FOOTNOTE.—But neither boxer was very impressed. “I don’t believe in astrology,” insisted Clay. "Me, either,” said Frazier.